A conceptual framework for CIFOR’s research on non-wood forest … · 2010-03-04 · A Conceptual Framework for CIFOR 's Research on Non-Wood Forest Products Manuel Ruiz Pérez1

WORKING PAPER NO. 6Jan 1995

A Conceptual Framework for CIFOR’s Researchon Non-Wood Forest Products

Manuel Ruiz Pérez

Summary

Most NWFPs research is site specific and sectoral, thus reducing its potential value for policy analysisand development actions. The main challenge for future research is to develop general frameworkswithin which to structure dispersed studies and to transform them into useful policy- and action-guiding instruments. In the first part of the paper three types of mutually supporting framework areproposed: functional typologies of extractive economy situations, general theories and models.

The second part of the paper analyses the complexity of extractive economies from a dynamicperspective, exploring some trends and hypotheses. Six major dynamic dimensions are considered:forest-woodland dynamics; non-market - market dynamics; technological changes: use of labour -household economy; people’s perceptions, preferences and opportunities - cultural dynamics; andpolicy development. Finally, the paper proposes a hypothetical model of the global trend for NWFPwith a renewed, multifunctional role linked both to their physical properties as well as to their newsocial, cultural and environmental attributes.

CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY RESEARCHoffice address: Jalan Gunung Batu 5 Bogor 16001 Indonesiamailing address: P.O. Box 6596, JKPWB Jakarta 10065 Indonesiatel.: +62(25 1) 34-3652 fax : +62(25 1) 32-6433email: [email protected]

The CGIAR System,

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is an informal association of 41 public and private sector donors that supports a network of sixteen international agricultural research centers, CIFOR being the newest of these centers. The Group was established in 1971. The CGIAR centers are part of a global agricultural research system which endeavor to apply international scientific capacity to solution of the problems of the world’s disadvantaged people.

CIFOR

CIFOR was established under the CGIAR system in response to global concerns about the social, environmental and economic consequences of loss and degradation of forests. It operates through a series of highly decentralized partnerships with key institutions and/or individuals throughout the developing and industrialized worlds. The nature and duration of these partnerships are determined by the specific research problems being addressed. This research agenda is under constant review and is subject to change as the partners recognize new opportunities and problems.

A Conceptual Framework for CIFOR 's Researchon Non-Wood Forest Products

Manuel Ruiz Pérez1

Summary

Most NWFP reseurch is site specific and sectoral, thus reducing its potential value for policy analysisand development actions. The main challenge for future research is to develop genera; frameworkswithin which to structure dispersed studies and to transform them into useful policy- and action-guiding instruments. in t h e jirst part of the paper three types of mutually supporting framework areproposed: functional typolbgies of extractive economy situations, general theories and models.

The second part of the paper analyses the complexity of extractive economies from a dynamicperspective, exploring some trends and hypotheses. Six major dynamic dimensions are considered:forest-woodland dynamics; non-market - market dynamics; technological changes: use of labour -household economy; people’s perceptions, preferences and opportunities - cultural dynamics; andpolicy development. Finally, the paper proposes a hypothetical model of the global trend for NWFPwith a renewed, multifunctional role linked both to their physical properties as well as to their newsocial, cultural and environmental attributes.

Purpose of the conceptual framework,A strategic objective for an institution such asCIFOR, with a worldwide research mandate,is to develop global pictures that can help usto understand the present situation, t h edynamic forces and the evolutionary trends ofworld forests. This is necessary in order toformulate coherent policy proposals. Twoconditions are needed to develop such globalperspectives:

a) Sufficient representative cases/situations.

b) Broad-based information, which iscollected and analysed using compatiblemethodologies and producing comparableresults.

The purpose of this paper is to advance ideasthat may help to establish the foundations tomeet both the above conditions in the case ofNon-wood Forest Products (NWFP). Ageneral survey of the research situation will bepresented and ways, towards achievinggeneralizable outcomes will be proposed. Itwill then give an overview of the majordynamic forces and evolutionary trends whichintluence NWFP and pose some key questions

concerning research hypotheses andimplications. The paper is meant toillustratethe scope of generalizable outcomes,while at the same time exploring someelements of potential interest for theirpreparation.

The next step will be to focus on each ofthe major, inter related dynamic forces andevolutionary trends identified. This would bedone by selected experts and could lead to aworkshop and publication. The workshopwould ddvelop a compatible research protocolthat, after distilling the major issues, trends,questions, research hypotheses and theories,could be used for comparative study ondifferent sites.

Field implementation should normallybenefit from the experience of alreadyestablished teams, which constitutes the coreof our knowledge about NWFP. One objectiveof this total process is to reinforce theseexperiences by trying to develop ways ofexpanding on-going research intocomplementary arcas of potential interestbased on the dynamics of NWFP worldwide.Comparative analysis of data from differentenvironmental and socio economic conditions

1 Senior Scientist, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), P.O. Box 6596, JKPWB,Jakarta 10065, Indonesia.

2 CIFOR Working Paper No. 6: Non-Wood Forest Products

could help to develop typologies, theories andmodels based on these dynamics to directfuture research and policy development.

While carrying out research to support thegeneral theories and models, the enlarged andcomprehensive nature of the studies would

hopefully produce results which are relevantfor the development of the communities whouse these resources. Thus, a two-way, dialecticapproach between the specific research outputsand the global f ramework could beestablished.

Statement of the problem:The evolution of forest-based, extractive activities is highly variable and uncertain. Pooranticipation of changes can impact negatively on the development process. CIFOR believesthat there are common threads und dimensions in the dynumics of NWFP development thatcan help to identify some of these changes. However most research is carried out on a case-study basis, and without an evolutionary perspective, which does not identifjr these commonthreads or anticipate trends. Consequently, policies and development actions are being takenin an isolated context, without a clear idea of their interactions or full implications. Thereforeunexpected, and sometimes unwanted, results occur; resources are wasted and opportunitiesare lost.

Overview of the present researchsituation

l Commodity/income/market-driven focus

l People’s perceptions/traditional know-ledge/household needs focus

Since the Second World War, attention hascentred on the production capabilities offorests, and particularly in tropical forests, ontimber production. The actual and potentialrole of NWFP as well as the environmentalservices have been left aside. In recent years, anew view of the issue has emerged that tries tovalue NWFP and to understand their role inthe life of the people,’ in the market and in theforest economy as a whole. An increasingamount of research and literature has beenproduced, particularly in the last 15 years, tosupport and promote this approach. Pressuresto conserve forests and to use them sustainablyhave also contributed to the renewed interest.A wide range of environments, from almostevery tropical country, has been studied withdifferent focuses and disciplinary perspectives.

Biological properties/sustainable man-agement focus

These correspond, in general terms, with theprofessional expertise of the economist, theanthropologist/rural sociologist and thebiologist/ecologist/forester. Some comple-mentary areas of interest have also beenpursued. The evaluation of non-marketedproducts and environmental services,technological improvements in the extraction,processing, storage and distribution, orhistorical research of past uses and trends areall issues studied.

Some comprehensive and integratedresearch has been carried out by researchteams or reviewed at international meetings:for Central America (CATIE, 1992 andv a r i o u s working papers of the CATIF-OLAF0project); for several parts of the AmazonRegion (Lescure et al., 1993; Anderson,1990); for West Africa (Falconer. 1990); forSouth East Asia (de Beer and McDermott,1989). However, most research has beencarried out at a local level. and from one ormore o f three main perspectives:

The practical results and proposals arisingfrom these sectoral, normally synchronic andlocally based studies sometimes fail toincorporate the interactions of forest with non-forest policies. On the other hand, acomprehensive study may lack comparisonswith experiences in other countries, whichcould limit its value for policy development.In other cases, NWFP with similar propertiesmay be promoted without a completeunderstanding of the impacts of regional orinternational market competition.

The need for comparative studies indifferent regions of the world has beenadvanced by severalauthors (for example,Peluso, 1992; Ctxloy & Bawn, 1993; Ruiz

Manuel Ruiz Pérez 3

Perez et al.. 1993; Salafsky et al., 1993).However, the differences in methodology,scope, range of interest and depth of researchhave prevented formation of a global view ofthe current situation and evolutionary trendsin this very complex and dynamic sector. Suchan overview is particularly important at thepresent time when rapid action is required,and could play a major role in guiding thedevelopment of new techniques and policyproposals.

The first a t t e m p t s t o obtain acomprehensive picture of NWFP date backseveral decades and followed a “catalogueapproach”, listing plants and their uses fromdifferent parts of the world (for example,Heyne, 1927, cited by de Wit, 1994; Burkill,1935). Admittedly, this is a first basic step onwhich to build, and is still very far fromcompletion (see the efforts being currentlyundertaken by projects like PROSEA forSouth East Asia or the University of Brasilia-IBAMX for the Brazilian Amazon). Studies ofsectors like chemical products, fibres andmarket information have also been conducted.However, this is still insufficient to understandthe complex relationships between people andproducts and their evolutionary trends, andparticularly their diachronic properties andevolution. The few global-level comparative

reviews which have been conducted (forexample, Townson, 1994) and these remaininconclusive. This reduces their value forresearch, technology and policy proposalswhich aim to improve the chances ofsustainable development for the people ,usually poor segments of the ruralpopulations, who depend on those resources. Itis also insufficient to widen the still-narrowfocus used to assess the conservation values offorests that can offer a sustainable yield ofproducts and environmental services.

Towards generalizable results

The very complex universe of NWFP retlectshigh variability and site speciticity. To date,this has p r e v e n t e d a global view.Consequently, most activities remainunrelated and policy proposals anddevelopment actions are made without thenecessary understanding of their fullimplications. The main challenge for futureresearch on NWFP is the development ofgeneral frameworks within which to structurethe dispersed studies and to transform theminto useful pol icy- and act ion-guidinginstruments. There are three main types ofmutually supporting frameworks: typologies,theories and models.

Expected output:Typologies of situations general theories and models to understand the interrelations anddynamic trends of different estractive economies and people. These would guide research,policy proposals and developmettt actions. This could focus activities and increase thepotential oj’ NWFP as a significant element in rural poverty alleviation and generaldevelopment, thus helping to avoid possible negative impacts.

Reference to CIFOR’s Medium Term Plan:The expected output directly relates to the following ClFOR Medium Term Plan activities:

I .3. Adoption of policy change.I .4. Employment and income from forests.2.2. managgement for &diversity and diverse products.4. I. management for NWFP by local communities.4.3. Market requirements and possibilities for underused NWFP

1. Functional typologyUntil now, the most commonly used typologyis different categories of products (like tibers,leaves. fruits, resins). of little use for purposesother than a s statistics. Functional typologiesthat retltxt the high variability and dynamism

are yet to be developed. In fact, it could beargued that what is needed are typologies ofextractive economy situations rather thanNWF products. Some of their main featurescould include:


Use of dynamic properties as policy andaction orientation criteria.

l Discrimination between differentevolutionary trends.

Multidimensional vaiiables/descriptors.

l Based on a reduced set of biophysical andsocioeconomic attributes.

l Hierarchical structure.

One of the main contributions of CIFOR tothis field, and one of the main outcomes of thepresent proposal, would be to make progresson the preparation of these typologies. Itwould probably follow an iterative process bywhich some crude, general situations can beinitially identitied. These situations will becharacterised by their trends and the factorspromoting/affecting them. Each situation willthen be subdivided into more detailed groups.Improvements in knowledge will refine themodel.

The following example is only an illustration of this iterative process:

I.- Situation of general decline2.- Situation stable or slightly declining, with major disfunctionalities =>3.- Situation stable or slightly improving, with some bottlenecks4.- Situation of expansion on main fronts

2. I .- Mainly environmental disfunctionalities =>2.2.- Mainly socioeconomic disfunctionalities2.3.- Both disfunctionalities equally important

I 2. I. I.- depletion in a context of good market potential2.1.2.- Non-destructive exploitation unable to meet demands2.1.3.- Depletion in a context of low market potential

2. General theoriesAttempts to develop general theories toexplain observed situations and trends in theuse of NWFP have been made from differentperspectives. Although a comprehensivereview is outside the scope of this paper, anoutline of some major approaches will showtheir variability. Cultural ecology, based onpostulates of evolutionary ecology, hasdeveloped a series of adaptationist theories toexplain the patterns of resource consumption,especially in indigenous communities. Theirbasic assumption is that people adapt theirculture to the constraints of the naturalenvironment. Optimum foraging theory is themost widely known (Hames and Vickers,1983). Management theories, on the otherhand, have cri ticised this approach,emphasising the proactive role of people inshaping the forest to their needs, overcomingsome of the environmental limitations (Balée,1989).

Development theories, which have beenproposed lo explain some trends in the use ot

NWFP, see extractivism as a sub-optimalsituation derived from social limiting factors(lack of culture and technology training, lowcapital availability, poor access to market;Godny and Bawa, 1993). Dependence onNWFP should decrease as individuals and/orcommunities move along this path ofdevelopment. Sometimes microeconomicmodels (using linear regressions) are adoptedin order to validate rather than to predict (seeGodoy et al., 1994; Gunatilake, 1994). Aparticularly intluential expression of thisspproac h is represented by agronomicaldevelopment theory, that sees the trendtowards domestication of the species whichproduces the successful commodities as theultimate, unavoidable end to wild gathering(Homma, 1990, 1992).

Theories to explain the use of NWFP basedon household livelihood strategies (optimaluse of Iabour, risk aversion, access toresources, etc.) have also been developed (seereview o f Falconer and Arnold, 1989). Someinteresting attempts have been made to link


them to the joint energy-economic balance ofthe activitv in order to compare extractionversus agricultural options (Pereira, 1992).

Some of these theories represent importantsteps in the generalisation process. However,although they may be locally applicable, theyremain inconclusive or face conflictingevidence at a more aggregated level. Thisattests to the difficulty of the task ofdeveloping gerneralisable results, b u t a l s ohighlights the need to make research progressin that direction.

3. Models.

Models are abstractions of the reality used toassist understanding. As such they haveadvantages (reduced number of elements toconsider, help to understand complexity,experimentation at low cost and risk3 but alsodisadvantages (possible oversimplification,restricted validity and applicability). As notedabove, microeconomic models have been usedto support some developmental theories ofNWFP. Similarly, cultural ecology theorieshave also used models to check the validity oftheir assumptions (for examples, see Hames &Vickers, 1953). These models tend to bedescriptive and deterministic, thus reducingtheir scope for policy analysis and proposals.There are some general rules of modelformulation and use, particularly in the tieidof policy (Bossei & Bruenig, 1992): statementof the ‘purpose; explanation of limitations;separation of objective facts from assumptions;full documentition and transparency; propervalidation.

Models can have three main roles in thepolicy process (King and Kraemer, 1993): toclarify the issues in debate; to improveconsistency and discipline of analysis anddiscourse; and to provide a relevant andpowerful form of advice, especially onundesirable results. These are precisely theroles envisaged for the types of modelsadvocated in this paper. In order to fulfillthese roles, they should share some of t hefollowing characteristics (Bossei and Bruenig,1992; Botkin, 1993):

l Explanatory: use a representation of realsystem structure to describe systembehaviour.

l Stochastic: parameters or relationshipsmay change stochastically within givenlimits.

l Use both quantitative and qualitritiveexpressions.

l Use different scenarios to incorporateimportant exogenous inputs.

The next part of this paper attempts toanalyse the complexity O f extractiveeconomies from a dynamic perspective. It willexplore some trends and hypotheses, as well asillustrate possible outcomes by use of theoeneraiizable results postulated above. It is0

also intended as an exploration of elements ofpotential interest in the development oftypologies, theories and models.

Major dynamic factors influencingthe evolution of extractive economies

A preliminary view of the evolutionary trendsof extractive economies shows some majordriving dynamic forces. They are not fullyindependent, showing different degrees ofinteraction. We should also bear in mind thatin people’s views and daily experience theyare not necessarily separated. Theirsignificance var ies f rom place to placeaccording to environmental andsocioeconomic conditions. It can also changeover time as the situation in one placechanges. In fact, this space/time variation isprobably the only element common to alltrends. They can be divided into six majoraxes or dimensions of dynamic variation (theorder is not related to their importance):

l Forest - woodland dynamics

l Non-market - market dynamics

l Technological changes

l Use of labour - household economy

l People’s perceptions, preferences andopportunities - cul tural dynamics

l Policy development

Some of the dimensions may be bipolar,while others can be multipolar. Their range ofvariation is shown by cases at the extremepositions on the spectrum. Similarly, thetrends may follow a dominant path combinedwith secondary processes in opposi tedirections. Consequently, different situationsmay coexist for a long period despite having astrong, dominant trend. Identifying theconditions that favour certain situations versus


those that render others obsolete is one of thecrucial factors in policy des ign for andpromotion of NWFP.

It should be remembered at this point, thatthe research hypotheses proposed areformulated at a very general level, beingmeant as framework hypotheses rather thanfield-test hypotheses, and that they are by nomeans exhaustive. In order to make themoperational, a priority setting for questionsand hypotheses (with definitions and a full,detai led development) wil l have to beimplemented during the s’econd step. Finally,the hypotheses presented are not necessarilycoincident with my own views and they maycorrespond to prevalent views that need to bechallenged.

1. Forest-woodland dynamicsForests are rapidly changing across thetropics. Some activities, like logging andslash-and-burn agriculture with long fallowperiods, lead to secondary forests. These maybe enriched with species of interest (normallyplants) through conscious (planting,protecting some trees from hazards orunwanted competition) or involuntary(spreading seeds while harvesting, openingmore favourable environments) actions. In

other cases an anthropogenic-forest typeecosystem may be established (jardin de c a s e shome gardens). Finally, some forests arereplaced by tree plantations for timber, food,latex, etc. The direction of change is fromprimary to secondary forests and treeplantations, following a general path of lowreversibility in the medium term (Fig.l),although some reversibility may and doesoccur.

NWFP are obtained from all these types offorested land. It is frequently reported thatmore products are obtained from secondarythan from primary forests. This may be due tosome intrinsic properties of secondary forests(predominance of some pioneer species ofinterest) or may be the result of enrichment.However, it could also be a tautologyreflecting the fact that people obtain moreproducts from nearby areas and that, by sodoing, these areas are t ransformed tosecondary forests, or it may simply retlect acommunity’s limited access to primary or less-disturbed forests. Often primary forests mayyield fewer products but still be the mainsupplier/reservoir of key, highly valuedproducts.

Figure 1: Evolution of forest - woodland ecosystems


This dynamic axis is relevant becauseregional land-use planning will have tocombine, in a mosaic, all types of areas frompristine, low-disturbed forests to secondaryforests in different stages of succession, treeplantations, agroforestry, pasturelands andintensive agriculture. The potential of systemsproducing NWFP and their environmentalvalues will thus have to be assessed in thel igh t of this trend.

Some relevant questions that ought to beposed in a research framework are:

How and why are forests evolving in acertain region?

How does this evolut ion affect theavailability/sustainability of NWFP? Howdoes extraction of NWFP affect the forestand its main environmental functions(biodiversity, soil, water . ..)?

Which species are used to obtain aspecific product? Are some species betterthan others?

Availablity of a certain product fromforests with different d e g r e e s o fintervention?

Some hypotheses to test are :

l The trend is to produce NWFP in moreanthropogenic types of forest (costefficiency, labour saving, guaranteedquantities).

This trend represents a better option forthe conservation and sustainablemanagement of natural forests.

l Certain products - some mushrooms,medicinal p lants and game - w o u l dmainly be obtained from little-disturbedforests (for biophysical and socioeconomicreasons).

l E x t r a c t i o n o f N W F P does notSignificantly affect forest structure andfunctions.

2. Non-market - market dynamicsMarkets can play a major role in extractiveeconomies and although many NWFP do notenter the market system, they are a lso

influenced by labour demand, use of sharedfacilities, potential substitution, etc. The mainfactors affecting the market supply of NWFPare: uneven, irregular yields (both in quantityand quality); seasonality; distance to marketsand transport facilities; marketing channels;physical p r o p e r t i e s o f the product(perishability, possibility to process andpreserve); and price. The alternatives for theproducer’s/collector’s labour will influencewillingness to participate in production.

The demand is also affected by price andproduct quality, as well as by productreplacement (either by a natural or syntheticsubstitute) and income. Moreover, consumertraditions and fashions (and a belief in helpingto conserve tropical forests by buying certainNWFP) play a significant role in NWFPmarkets, particularly at an international level.

Frequently, one or a very few products playthe role of “Backbone” or “Attractor” for therest, articulating the extractive economies andsupporting the market around them. Durian,rattan and bamboo in South East Asia, gumarabic in East Africa, palm wine and wildmango in West Africa, or Brazil nuts, rubberand aguaje fruits if the Western Amazon areexamples of these. When the backboneproduct for a certain situation disappears (dueto lack of demand or over-exploitation), itaffects the whole range of activities andmarket relations, forcing their reshaping oreventual collapse.

The extremes of this axis can berepresented by products that are gathered forhome consumption without entering themarket (some food and medicinal plants,house-building materials and g a m e ) t oproducts that are mainly or exclusively meantfor the international market (gum arabic,chicle and some other plant exudates, or birdnests). Local, regional and national marketdemands are intermediate situations betweenthose extremes. Most products may occupyseveral positions on this axis, being home-consumed and sold at different market levels.The predominance of one position or anothermay change with time. Theoretical frequencycurves of products along the market levklscould follow negative s lopes (F ig . 2) .


Figure 2a: Theoretical frequency curves ofproducts along market levels

Markets for NWFP are difficult to develop andmaintain, and the predictability of theirevolution is generally low. It could be arguedthat most products used for home consumptionor sold at local or regional markets tend tostay in those positions for long periods,whereas few products have enjoyed a long-lasting presence in the international market.Most internationally marketed NWFP aresubject to boom-and-slump cycles with someeventually disappearing, with productsubstitution playing a major role. A corollaryto this situation is that new technologies anddemands have a s t rong impact on theemergence of new products, which makes theNWFP markets very dynamic. On the otherhand, local markets tend to be thin in thesense that small variations in the supply havelarge effects on prices.

Some relevant questions related to thedynamics of this axis are:

l What is the position of a product atdifferent market levels? How is thisposition changing?

How has the quantity/quality of a productevolved over time?

l How are marketing channels organised evolving?2 ’

Figure 2b: Market durability and productsut stitution at different market levels

MARKET DURABILITY / RESILIENCY

l What are the market ing cos ts anddistribution of profits? What are theirtrends?

l How is market information organised ?How is it changing?

l Which are the main factors controllingthe supply of a product?

l Which are the main factors influencingthe consumption/demand of a product?

l What can be said about marketelasticities?

Some research hypotheses to test may include:

l Local-level markets are thinner, whereasinternational markets are more affected byproduct substitution.

l Product quality and regularity of supplyare the main concerns of internationalmarkets.

l Green consumers play a significant role ininternational and some national marketsfor NWFP.

l Middlemen’s disproportionate share ofvalue along the marketing channel ismore likely to occur in internationally

Manuel Ruiz Perez 9

marketed products than in those for localmarkets, and is related to transport andprocessing facilities (monopsony versuslarge number of buyers).

l Eliminating market distortions will resultin improved forest management andhousehold income.

3. Technological changesTechnology plays a dual role in influencingthe use of NWFP. Thus , technologicaldevelopments at the extraction stage can beessent ia l to improve the sustainablemanagement of forests by changing extractiontechniques and allowing for a non-destructiveextraction system or extending the productivelife of the individual harvested. Similarly,developments in processing and conservationtechnologies may increase the productavailability and market scope, as well asreduce losses. Finally, technologies for marketinformation, consolidation and developmentcan also be important to guarantee thecontinuation of the activity. On the otherhand, technological development can also leadto product obsolescence, eliminating demandby changing to another technology which nolonger needs a given product or by replacingnatural products with synthetic substitutes.There are two different aspects of thetechnological dimension: a) production; andb) processing and utilisation.

Improved extraction techniques andecosystem management, as well asdomestication, are technological advances inthe production process. Strictly speaking,domestication implies the genetic modificationof an species to the point that it can no longersurvive in the wild without humanintervention. In this strict sense domesticationis only achieved after a very long process thatincludes stages of management of the naturaland semi-natural environments and semi-domestication. In the past, the first stages ofdomestication usually were involuntary andlater accelerated by more consciously directedintervention. Modern agronomy, forestry andbiotechnology have completely changed thesituation, having increased the speed of theprocess by at least one order of magnitude.

Linked to domestication, and also mentionedbriefly in the first axis, is the appropriation/re-creation of forest structures and processes byrural communities. This habitat modificationor “domestication of the environment” is acomplement to species domestication.

The modern process of domestication isfrequently tri ggered by unmet demands ofmarkets with potential. This could happenwhen the product naturally occurs in very lowabundance or because, having being abundant,it was exploited in a non-sustainable way thatplaced the natural populations on the brink oflocal .extinction. It could also reflect industryneeds for improved qual i t ies and newproperties. In all cases it is frequently arguedthat the process of domestication helpsimprove the management of natural forests.On the other hand, it could also favour forestclearance to establish plantations.

One of the most amazing features ofNWFP is that we can still witness the commonprocess of domestication at different stages(from management to plantation) taking place,especially in the tropics. It could be arguedthat the most successful products willexperience an acceleration in the process tocomplete domestication and removal fromwild hunting/gathering. It is more likely thatnew plants will be domesticated than newanimals and, of these, fish probably representthe group with the highest chances. However,most products will never be fullydomesticated. The extremes of this axis can bedepicted by products that will always behunted/gathered from the wild (some game,foods, tibers and medicinal plants) to thosethat are already cultivated away from theforest and are no longer gathered (mostinternationally traded varieties of tropicalfruits). A large number of NWFP, however,will still be obtained from a mix of situationsfrom wild to planted-raised and sometimesdomesticated sources. The trend seems to beuni-directional despite the occasionalbackcrossing with some wild stock (Fig. 3),stressing the need for a better knowledge oftaxonomy and to conserve the wild progenitorsof important market varieties.

CIFOR Working Paper No. 6: Non-Wood Forest Products

Figure 3: Trend in the use of species along the gradient from wild to domesticated

v) w Y % . zo

l DOMESTICATED

TIME NEEDED TO CHANGE STAGES

Processing and utilisation is the other main aspect of technological change. One extreme of this gradient could be marked by products I such as fruits that are consumed next to the place where they are collected without any further transformation. (It could be argued that knowing the properties of the product represents already a certain technological development, particularly for some medicinal

plants.) Other extremes with high technological development are represented at the processing and/or conservation levels (some oils, extracts, ,medicines or fruits). The prevalent trend along this axis would be to move from low to high technological input if it is still extracted or to synthesis and product replacement (see Fig. 4).

Figure 4: Possible relationship between technology improvement and substitution

Along this gradient, some products will be conditions that allow the same product to be obtained and processed with different levels of obtained with different technological technological development. Awareness of the sophistication is a key to appropriate direction

Manuel Ruiz Perez 11

of development and policy efforts. In thissense, extractivism, far from being considereda backward activity from which to beredeemed, could well be considered as an

intermediary between biodiversity andbiotechnology, thus dramatically changing thesocial appreciation of the activity (see Fig. 5).

Figure 5: Extractive activities as intermediaries between biodiversity and biotechnology

Questions concerning processing andutilisation may include:

What are the extraction/managementtechniques? How can they be improved?

Is the species in the process ofdomestication (management, semi-naturalstage)? If so, what is promoting it?

Which biological features promote/hindermanagement and/or domestication?

Is the new technology leading to NWFPpromotion or abandonment?

Who drives the technological change(producer, processor, consumer, industrynot directly linked to NWFP)?

What are the reasons behind that change(increase quantity, improve quality,improve availability, reduce costs, . ..) ?

How is it affecting forest management,. markets, household income?

Which policies favour/impede it?

Why are improved technologies alreadytested not widely used?

Biotechnology

Some hypotheses to be tested are:

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

The process of domestication willinevitably lead to the abandonment ofwild extraction.

Product depletion and the existence ofmarkets are the leading forces fordomestication.

In some conditions (specify) managementis better than domestication.

Markets differentiate between wild anddomesticated products.

Technological change will make someNWFP obsolete (to identify them).

Technological change will offer newopportunities for some NWFP (to identifythem).

Technological change will improve forestconservation and management.

Technological change will improvehousehold income and labour efficiency.

Technological change isprocessor/industry driven.

basically

The adoption of new technologies dependon market demands and capitalavailability.


4. La bour-household economy Very few communities of hunter-gatherersdepend exclusively on the consumption ofNWFP for their survival. Similarly, fewextractive communities or households dependexclusively on selling NWFP. It could be saidthat in almost all households or communitiesthat obtain NWFP these represent a part-time(though sometimes dominant) activity whosefull value (use plus exchange) represents apart (sometimes the majority) of the totalwealth of the household or community.

From this perspective, NWFP can beconsidered as part of a strategy to diversifyand maximise the returns to labour andincome, to minimise risks and to obtainresourcesin areaswith unclear orunfavourable land-tenure situations. The lowlabour input required to maintain the system(not necessarily to obtain the resources) asopposed to the high labour input foragricultural activities, together with the usualseasonality of most NWFP, makes them anexcellent complement or buffer in areas ofhigh risk, even if agriculture is thepredominant activity.

NWFP are also opportunities for socialgroup specialisation (gender, age, social classor caste). In some cases households (morerarely communities) specialise in harvesting

NWFP and can move between products inresponse to market demands. This tends tooccur in peri-urban areas with a high demandfor NWFP and with close contacts betweenproducers and consumers. The activit y(extraction and selling) rather than theproduct itself is the niche or job specialisation.

There are indications of low remunerationfor time devoted to obtaining raw NWFP whencompared with the income from traditionalagricultural activities, although this situationvaries between places and products. When thisis not the case, seasonal or other physicalrestrictions may prevent a higher dedication tothe activity .On the other hand, thisremuneration is significantly increased whenprocessin gis carried out in the samehousehold/community .F o r t h i s r e a s o n ,processing/adding value at the local level isone of the key policy issues for NWFP. Insome cases however, technological, transportor financial requirements may act against suchvalue-adding activity.

A variety of situations can be found alongthis axis, from low to high remuneration andallocation of labour, and from a marginal to apredominant situation in the householdeconomy (Fig .6). The “threshold ” is mainlydetermined by the best available alternativeuse of household resources and time.

Figure 6 :Viability threshold related to income and labour intensity

INTENSITY OF LABOUR

Manuel Ruiz Pérez 1 3

Questions related to the dynamics of this axisare:

What is the proportion of time needed toobtain NWFP (home-consumption andmarket)? How has it evolved?

What is the community/socialoroup/household specialisation? How hasC

it evolved?

What is the land tenure situation? How isit evolving?

What is the share of NWFP in householdincome? How has it evolved?

What are the complementarities betweenfood crops and NWFP at a householdlevel?

What is the profitability and return tolabour and how do these compare with thereturns from other household activities?

At what level of remuneration does anactivity/product appear or disappear?

What has been the transition in localcommunities previously highly dependenton NWFP?

How is value added?

Is there any trend to increase locallyadded value? What promotes/precludes it?

Are externalities being recognised?

Research hypothesis to be tested:

l NWFP are collected by specialised socialgroups.

NWFP are less remunerative of labourthan agricultural commodities.

The trend is to abandon products with lowvalue per unit of labour.

Securing user rights/land tenure is aprecondition for long-term production

investment and household development.

Loca I processing can significantlyincrease the value added and represents amore profitable? opportunity for labour.

Increasing value added at the local leveldepends on technology and capi ta lavailability.

5. People’s perceptions, preferences and opportunities - cultural dynamicsA prevalent view of technology and socialprogress considers gathering and consumptionof NWFP as a backward activity with lowsocial status. Yet, many people in rural areasmaintain this activity and even fight forclearer rights to continue these traditions. Infact those rights, centred around land tenure,are one of the key points in all the agendas offorest-dependent people. Thus, understandingpeople’s motivations to pursue this activity isessential for policy proposals and developmentactions.

Bearing in mind that NWFP collection isnormally a part-time activity that constitutesone part of a broader strategy, the reasons whypeople extract and consume NWFP are varied.They reflect household livelihood in differentways, linked to the availability of resources,the remuneration for labour, risk aversion,other options available and cultural attitudes.

They could be summarised in four maincategories:

1)

2)

3)

4)

better options are not available (caused bylack of access to resources like training,land or capital; “buying time” strategy);

better options exist but they are unknown(caused by lack of information);

well-integrated with other activities (goodremuneration for labour and availabilityof resources; diversification and access toresources strategy);

intrinsic element of their whole social andcultural identity (group coherence,cultural and political strategy).

These four groups define the spectrum of theaxis, and could be represented by anindividual/community aspiring to own land tobecome farmers (I) or looking for options inother sectors of activity (2), by mixed farmingsystems where agroforestry-extraction is anessential component of their whole economicactivity (3) or by an indigenous group wantingto maintain its ancestral territory andtraditional activities (4) (see Fig. 7). Theexpected trends within each group would befor the first two to be changed for anotheroption when available, for te third to bemaintained in a highly dynamic (product-wise) situation. and for the fourth to persist ina less dynamic (product-wise) situation.


Changes in culture and formal education will influence these trends.

The implications for each of the main categories are radically different, since people might be looking forward to leaving the activity, or to reinforce it .if improvements/ incentives are provided. The identification of

those improvements/incentives (related to land tenure, market organisation, transport, extraction, preserving and processing technology, general social infrastructure, etc.) is also an essential part of research aimed at policy and development proposals,

Figure 7: Policy actions related to people’s preferences

FORCED BY FORCED BY CIRCUMSTANCES CIRCUMSTANCES

NICHE NICHE OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

CULTURAL / POLITlCAL CULTURAL / POLITlCAL

1 ‘. - PREFERENCES PREFERENCES

-

Finally on this axis it is also important to identify the cultural trends at a general level that influence the production-consumption of NWFP. The above-mentioned view of a “backward activity”, together with the widespread pressure to change to foreign patterns of consumption, may have a detrimental effect on continuation of these activities. On the other hand, the “green vogue”, the saturation of some conventional markets, the trend to recognise potential positive environmental externalities and the increasing self-esteem of communities carry i ng out traditional activities, may encourage their maintenance.

Thus, relevant questions about this dimension may include:

l What makes a certain extractive activity/product resilient/prone to change?

0 How are people (both producers and consumers) reacting to these changes?

+ ATTITUDES

Are there other known options? How do they interrelate (complementary, competing, exclusive)?

How do people perceive themselves with regard to those options?

What are the priorities perceived by forest dependent people?

W’lich are the local institutions that regulate access and use of NWFP?

What is the role of NWFP in people’s economic strategies?

What is the cultural attitude of producers/consumers towards NWFP?

How is this attitude changing and what is promoting the change?

Manuel Ruiz Perez 15

Some hypothesis to test are:

l Household/community wants to keepextracting/using NWFP.

l There are better options but they areunknown.

l Better options are not available.

The predominant cultural attitude prefersto replace NWFP and extractive activitiesby conventional agricultural commoditiesand activities.

Training and educational campaigns canintluence this attitude,

4.6 Policy developmentBeing a very dynamic issue with a generallyweak economic and social position, direct andindirect policies have a strong influence onNWFP. In general terms, in recent times therehave been few direct policies or regulationsaimed at NWFP. The most frequent one is theneed for specific NWFP management plans aspart of a broader request for forestmanagement plans. However, they are veryrarely developed and even more rarelyimplemented. Some trade policies, taxes andsubsidies are also directly targeted at NWFP.On the research side, there is a growinginterest on NWFP but the work is still verymarginal compared to the whole forestryresearch field, which, at the same time, onlyrepresents a fraction of total study intoagriculture.

Current indirect policies are probably theones having a stronger, often unintentional,effect on NWFP. These relate to issues likeland tenure and agrarian reform, policiestowards complementary-concurrent products,population, nature conservation, publicparticipation, social equity, general transportand other infrastructural policies, industrialpolicies, macroeconomic policies, taxes andincentives. Their inter-sectoral links,synergisms or off-setting of their effects onN W F P a r e essent ia l to understand.Additionally, some international policies(trade, monetary, nature conservation, etc.)may also have major - normally indirect -effects on NWFP.

Fig. 8 shows the range of variation withinthis dimension. It could be argued that thefuture evolution of policies directed at NWFPwill tend to give emphasis to national directpolicies and to international indirect ones in abroader frame where the incorporation ofexternalities will play a significant role. Theseaspects are particularly important for a centrelike CIFOR, with a worldwide mandatefocused on research whose results willencourage appropriate policy changes.

Questions relevant to this axis mayinclude:

l Who are the main stakeholders? How dothey organise? How have they evolved?

l What are the main issues in forest-dependent people’s agendas? How arethey being faced by governments?

l Which are the customary rules that needto be incorporated into public policies andlaws?

Which are the direct policies towardsNWFP? How are they being implementedand by whom?

How are these policies evolving?

l Which are the indirect policies affectingNWFP? How do they affect them? Howare they evolving?

What are the institutional settings of thesepoiicies? How are they evolving?

a Which are the links (contradictory orreinforcing) between local, national andinternational policies affecting NWFP?

Research hypotheses could include:

l Major economic, trade and environmentalpolicies have a significant effect onNWFP.

There is a trend to explicitly incorporateNWFP in national policies.

l This trend will have a positive effect onthe sustainable extraction and use ofNWFP (to check for each policy, i.e., landtenure, population, public participation,social equity, trade, tax, e(c).


Figure 8: Policy effects and trends at different levels

INDIRECT

DIRECT

t

EDUCATION, HEALTH

LOCAL NATlONAL INTERNATIONAL

The “Bicycle Model”, a hypothetical model of the global trend of NWFP

Although a global model of extractive economies is still far from reality, I propose here a hypothetically possible general trend that could retlect the future role of NWFP. The intention is to provoke thought and trigger further discussion.

A likely scenario is that NWFP will follow a similar path to that of the bicycle, which was the major way of daily transport all over the world until a few decades ago. With the expansion of the car industry, the bicycle was almost forgotten in the developed world, though it continued to be very much used (and still is) in developing countries as one of the main daily transport systems available.

However, the environmental problems brought on by the proliferation of cars, full transport and fuel cost policies, the availability of special lanes for bicycles that make them safer and quicker, and a new attitude towards physical exercise and leisure have brought a complete change in the situation. Nowadays, it could be argued that most households in developed countries have bicycles for daily or weekend/holidays use. These play a multiple

role, linked to their former function (quicker than a pedestrian) but also to their social, leisure and new link with nature roles. In the developing world the bicycle still plays the dominant role of being the quickest means of affordable transport. So what was once considered to be an indicator of backwardness to be replaced, is now perceived as one of the symbols of a new style of life. Could NWFP be in a similar position in the future? The trend towards green markets, their perception (to be demonstrated) as a better way of managing natural forests, a new cultural attitude, and the slow but steady incorporation of NWFP in professional (teaching and research) curricula seems to indicate such a possiblity. Perhaps the future role of NWFP will be a renewed, multifunctional one not only linked to their physical properties but also (and sometimes mainly) to the social, cultural and cnviron- mental attributes that are/will be in a phase of expansion, as shown in Fig. 9, where the width is proportional to the number of socially appreciated attributes Helping to accelerate this process might be one of the main contributions and challenges of CIFOR.

Manuel Ruiz P&ez 17

Figure 9: Hypothetical general trend for NWFP

t RENEWED ROLES

TIME

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A conceptual framework for CIFOR’s research on non-wood forest … · 2010-03-04 · A Conceptual Framework for CIFOR 's Research on Non-Wood Forest Products Manuel Ruiz Pérez1